SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to invest from $500 million to $750 million in Zume Inc., a startup that makes and delivers fresh pizzas with the help of robots, according to people familiar with the conversations. (Japan Times)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has indicated his intention to run in next month's leadership race of the main governing Liberal Democratic Party and seek a third term. (NHK)

A Japanese man has recently been taken into custody in North Korea, government officials said Saturday as Tokyo tried to obtain information on the case. (Japan Times)

Japanese police carried out a climbing safety campaign on Mount Fuji on Mountain Day on Saturday. (NHK)

Izakaya Japanese-style pubs are bringing in a new kind of customer, foreign tourists. (Nikkei)

All nine passengers on a rescue helicopter that crashed on a mountain near the border of Gunma and Nagano prefectures on Friday died, Gunma Prefectural Government officials confirmed on Saturday. (Japan Times)

Tokyo topped a list of the world's most innovative cities on Friday, leapfrogging London and New York after embracing the"globe-shaking trends of robotics and 3D manufacturing". (Japan Today)

Japan's SoftBank Group has agreed to invest an additional $1 billion in shared-office company WeWork, where SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son sees the potential for a repeat of his lucrative bet on Alibaba Group Holding. (Nikkei)

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors said Thursday it had stopped selling a souvenir at the plant after facing a storm of online criticism saying it was inconsiderate. (Japan Today)

The government plans to upgrade the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau to an affiliated agency in April next year in preparation for accepting more foreign workers, sources said Wednesday. (Japan Times)

The parents of Princess Mako of Japan have informed the mother of her commoner fiancé that they will not permit the wedding to go ahead until a financial dispute within his family is solved. (smh.com.au)

In what appears to be an unusual mix, tech giant Sony Corp. opened a “park” in the middle of the Tokyo’s ritzy Ginza district on Thursday with four subterranean levels. (Japan Times)

People in Japan are observing 73 years since American forces carried out their second atomic bomb attack on the country during World War Two. (NHK)

A typhoon making its way up Japan's Pacific coast has been downgraded to a severe tropical storm but officials say conditions could still be dangerous. (NHK)

A strong typhoon is heading up the coast of eastern Japan away from the heavily populated Kanto region. There are no reports of major damage but alerts remain in place. Please click on the image for a further explanation from our meteorologist. (NHK)

More than 70,000 people have been taken to hospitals across Japan since late April with symptoms of heatstroke. (NHK)

Kyoto is Japan’s cultural capitol and home to over 2000 temples & shrines to visit, but it’s hard to know which ones to see when you only have a few days. This time, Kansai resident Kevin Riley and I debate two of the most visited zen Buddhist temples: Kinkakuji vs Ginkakuji (ONLY in JAPAN)

The Bank of Japan last week decided to allow the yield on the 10-year government bond to move in a wider range. (NHK)

Enduring a deadly heat wave this summer, Japan is considering adopting daylight saving time from next year, so that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games can stage events during cooler hours, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported Monday. (Japan Times)

The Tanabata Star Festival has opened in Sendai, northeastern Japan, filling the main shopping arcade in the city with colorful bamboo decorations. (NHK)

A Japanese court has begun a trial filed by a man who is seeking compensation from the government after being forced to undergo sterilization under the now-defunct Eugenic Protection Law. (NHK)

A 10-meter-long whale washed ashore at a beach in Kamakura City on Sunday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (tokyoreporter.com)

Extreme heat continues to afflict wide areas across Japan. Temperatures are expected to hit 39 degrees Celsius, or what weather officials call "life-threatening" levels, in some places on Monday. (NHK)

A French woman has been missing in eastern Japan since late last month, police announced Sunday. (Japan Today)

As Kaori Shibo bends her head down and peers at a log through a magnifying glass, she emits a delighted gasp. The object of her adoration? Moss. (Japan Times)